Economic challenges addressed
Approximately 50 people, comprising primarily entrepreneurs, attended the dinner where a panel of experts in business addressed them.
MBOMBELA – Sustainable growth in the township economy is needed to take the country forward.
This was the key message during the South African Institute of Charted Accountants’ (SAICA) annual networking dinner at Matumi Golf Club last Wednesday.
The evening was the culmination of a networking day facilitated by the Kruger Lowveld Chamber of Business and Tourism (KLCBT). It commenced with a ladies breakfast, followed by a golf day.
Approximately 50 people, comprising primarily entrepreneurs, attended the dinner where a panel of experts in business addressed them. These included the newly elected president of the KLCBT, Mr Oupa Pilane and the chief financial officer of McDonald’s South Africa, Mr Zafar Mahomed.
Pilane’s keynote speech addressed the country’s economic challenges. “What we need in this country is a new kind of activist who uses entrepreneurship and business in a new way,” he said.
“Most of the time we are driven by profits as we want to grow our businesses. The challenges that bedevil the country is that more and more of our people continue to live in poverty and that kind of jobless growth is not sustainable,” said Pilane.
The country needed a think tank to grow the economy and come up with new ideas to sustain it.
“We need to develop a new trajectory of growth. We can’t leave everything in the hands of the politicians,” he said.
He pointed to huge job opportunities. “We need to grow the previously disadvantaged areas in terms of infrastructure. Mbombela is 72 per cent formal and 28 per cent informal.
“The majority of the population lives in rural areas where growth continues to be depressed.
“We need to come up with ways to create sustainable growth in the township economy,” he concluded.
